Janet Wilson, 31, of Detroit, was peaceful, loving, and non-confrontational, said family members

The family of a Detroit woman shot dead last week by Dearborn police called for justice in an emotional news conference Wednesday outside Dearborn police headquarters, saying she was peaceful and loving.

Janet Wilson's family also challenged the police account of what happened Jan. 27.

"This is a murder," said Cassie Bass, a niece of Wilson, 31. "If I was a murderer, I would be behind bars, underneath the jail."

Referring to the officer who shot Wilson, Bass said: "Why is he out there? Why?"

"Kym Worthy, where are you?" Bass asked, referring to the Wayne County prosecutor.

Michigan State Police are investigating the shooting and have alleged that Wilson drove at police in her vehicle before police fired at her on Hubbard Drive, near the Fairlane Town Center. Police said there was some dispute at Fairlane between security and Wilson, who then drove off.

An attorney for the family, Vince Colella, said he's trying to gather evidence on what happened, including possible video footage from area businesses and police dashcam videos..........

more at link

when this story came across the news there was precious little said except the usual villainous broad statements, and a picture of 2 police cars crashed into the womans car in the shape of a v. was reported as a traffic stop though it originated inside a mall. the reason security went after her has not been told nor has any video or other proof of the accusations against the woman.

Last week, a group of church friends held a town hall meeting in Brunswick, Ga. Their purpose is embodied in their name: Justice For Caroline Small.

Chances are, you’ve never heard of her.

She was a waitress, a mother of two girls, and a woman with mental health issues who was in and out of drug treatment programs for much of her life until she was killed by police in June of 2010. Her death was every bit as outrageous as those of Oscar Grant, Eric Garner, Walter Scott, Freddie Gray and Tamir Rice, but has received only a fraction of the attention.

Indeed, unless you live in Georgia or North Florida, you probably don’t know her story. And you should. As told in news reports and a dash cam video, it goes like this:

A police officer responds to a call of a woman doing drugs in a parking lot. When he tells her to shut off the car, she takes off instead. A four mile, low-speed chase ensues. It ends when a police car bumps her vehicle, spinning it to a stop.

With one police car sitting nose to nose, another on her passenger side, a utility pole behind her, a ditch on her left and all four tires gone, Small has nowhere to go. Still, she shifts into reverse and then forward, banging uselessly against the utility pole and the patrol car.

Police yell at her to get out. Instead, she tries again — back against the pole, forward, bumping the car. And Sgt. Corey Sasser and Officer Todd Simpson open fire, tattooing her windshield with .45 caliber rounds.

Afterward, they discuss their marksmanship.

“I hit her right in the face … right on the bridge of the nose,” says Sasser.

Simpson waves off a former EMT who approaches to render aid. “She’s dead. I shot her in the head. Her head exploded.”

Small actually died seven days later. Sasser and Simpson were cleared of wrongdoing by a grand jury and by internal affairs. A civil suit was dismissed.

Justice for Caroline Small was formed last year after the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and a local ABC News affiliate investigated the shooting and found that police, seeking to protect their own, interfered with a supposedly “independent” probe, while the district attorney deferred to them at every step, essentially paving the way for the grand jury to clear the two officers.

Perhaps most damning: the investigation concludes police tampered with the crime scene and manufactured misleading evidence. Grand jurors were led to believe Small had room to maneuver her car and could have run the officers down. The dash cam video — search it online for yourself — proves the unarmed woman was hemmed in and posed no immediate threat.

So Justice for Caroline Small is calling for a new investigation of the......

After months of hearing pleas for intervention, the U.S. Department of Justice is coming to Dearborn to help the police department handle a growing mistrust of city police officers by African Americans in the wake of two deadly shootings by officers in recent months.

In both instances, the victims were African Americans from Detroit......

......"The war on crime and war on drugs eclipsed the gains of the civil rights movement,” Thompson tells MT. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a black police officer, or Latino police officer or male or female, you have a job to do and that job is to wage the war on drugs — to have a certain amount of policing presence in the community and a certain number of arrests."

For Michiganders the outcome of this punitive system has been traumatizing, and as the Annie E. Casey report points out, little focus has been paid to the most vulnerable members of society being affected by these policies: kids.

"For children and families, incarceration is not a one-time event but a daily reality that lasts well beyond a jail sentence or prison term," write the authors of the report. ......

I just want to point out it's very interesting that the upcoming Captain America: Civil War movie focuses on the issue of, if superheroes were to exist, should they be registered with the government? (This also comes up in the Superman vs. Batman film.)

If you know the storyline of the Watchmen graphic novel/film, the government already does this in the 70s, because people are tired of vigilante justice being dealt out by people in masks (*), and this forces most superheroes into retirement.

Some refuse to do this, notably the Comedian and Rohrshach, and lord knows, those two definitely need somebody keeping an eye on them, because they are sociopaths.

(*) Like I've said a few times, one of the first generation of heroes in this alternative universe is a guy named Hooded Justice, who looks just like a Klansman.

_________________-- Tis an ill wind that blows no minds.Malaclypse the Younger

.......Since 2006 through mid-2015, Drug Enforcement Administration groups assigned to 15 major airports across the U.S. seized more than $203 million in cash.

At Detroit Metro Airport, agents have seized about $7.5 million from 436 travelers, federal records show.

In most cases, records show the agents gave the suspected couriers a receipt for the cash — sometimes totaling $50,000 or more, stuffed into suitcases or socks — and sent them on their way without ever charging them with a crime........

guess they just dont have to treat people fairly or justly if they dont want too anymore. no standard of proof or due process

Quote:

...........By itself, a suspicious itinerary amounts to little more than a tip; it’s not enough evidence to permit agents to detain passengers, search their bags or seize their cash. Instead, agents use it to approach travelers and ask if they would be willing to answer a few questions, a process that often ends with them either asking for permission to search the person’s bags or having a dog sniff them for drugs.

Federal law gives the government broad powers to seize cash and other assets if agents have evidence that they are linked to crime. That process, commonly known as asset forfeiture, has come under fire from lawmakers in recent years after complaints that police were using the law as a way to raise money rather than to protect the public or prevent crime.

“Going after someone’s property has nothing to do with protecting them and it has everything to do with going after the money,” said Renée Flaherty, a lawyer for the Institute for Justice, an advocacy group that has battled asset forfeiture cases.

To the DEA, cash seizures are one prong of a broader financial fight against gangs and Mexican cartels, which have reaped huge profits — usually in cash — from selling drugs in the United States. Agents “employ strategies and methods that attack the financial infrastructure of these criminal organizations,” spokesman Russ Baer said, including tracking the couriers they use to transport the money.

Baer said agents receive information from employees at "airlines, bus terminals, car rental agencies, storage facilities, vehicle repair shops, or other businesses." He did not explain why so many suspected couriers are released without charges.

Mining travel records

The DEA came under fire for harvesting travel records two years ago, when Amtrak’s inspector general revealed that agents had paid a secretary $854,460 over nearly two decades in exchange for passenger information. A later investigation by the Justice Department’s inspector general found that the secretary initially looked up reservations only at agents’ request, but quickly “began making queries on his own initiative, looking for indicators that a person might be planning to transport illegal drugs or money on a train,” according to a report obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

Five current and former agents said the DEA has cultivated a wide network of such informants, who are taught to be on the lookout for suspicious itineraries and behavior. Some are paid a percentage if their tips lead to a significant seizure. Records filed in asset seizure cases suggest the drug agency’s informant network is broad enough that agents have been able to profile passengers traveling on most major airlines, including American, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest, United and others.

“Basically, it’s what that Amtrak guy was doing, but at the airport,” said a senior DEA agent, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to discuss the agency’s use of confidential informants.

Court records show agents and informants flagged travelers for questioning based on whether they were traveling with one-way tickets, had paid in cash, had listed a non-working phone number on the reservation or had checked luggage. They also appeared to pay particular attention to people headed to cities such as Los Angeles (which prosecutors described as “a well-known source city for marijuana and other types of narcotics”), Fresno (“known for large quantities of outdoor grown marijuana”) and other California cities.........

Soul singer Erykah Badu announced Saturday that she plans to raise national awareness about the tragedy of never-investigated rape kits and pledged a portion of all future concert proceeds to ensure that all Detroit kits are processed and investigated.

“I pledge to raise the same amount of money with each show that I do until we raise this money,” she said after her concert at Chene Park. A portion of the proceeds was donated to the African American 490 Challenge, which is raising funds to test and investigate rape kits discovered in a Detroit police warehouse. “I’m with it. I think it’s one of the most important things I could do.”

Rape, Badu said is “a violent crime just like any other violent crime, and it’s illegal, and it’s immoral. It’s a violation of human rights. It’s a violation of the human body. It’s a violation of our integrity. It’s a violation of our sexuality. It’s a crime not only against women, but children and boys who are victims as well.”

“I hope that this venture gives peace to some of us who are victims and some of us who are not,” she said.

Last month, Badu lent her support to the African American 490 Challenge, a coalition of black women that last fall brought sororities, nonprofits, community groups, service organizations, book clubs and other groups together to raise $600,000 in increments of $490 — the cost to test a single rape kit. The group is attempting to raise the money needed to test the last of more than 11,341 rape kits found abandoned in a Detroit Police Department storage unit in 2009.........

Justice as a matter of charity

Quote:

.......“I love Detroit," she said. "I missed you, and I connect very heavily with this city for many, many reasons. It reminds me of my own home. I’ve spent a lot of time here.

"Every time I’m on that stage, facing this audience, for many years, on that same spot, I feel the same connection," she said. "We all become one living, breathing organism at some point. It feels like home, like family. And my job, my only job is to make you feel good. And I really hope that I do that, and I miss ya’ll when I’m not here. I still feel you because the audience has the power to carry the whole city.”

The moment was a bright one for the tireless Shahida Mausi-Johnson, president of the Right Productions, the entertainment and concert promotions company that books Chene Park and arranged for Badu’s involvement.

“I want to thank everybody for helping to raise a phenomenal amount of money, for allowing your resources to go in that direction,” she told the group, which included guests who donated $1,000 each for personal time with Badu and members of UAW-Ford, which sponsored the private, post-concert reception. “We encourage you to stay engaged. We’re going to get this entire sum raised this year. We’re going to post videos on SnapChat and do Facebook ads. Let’s get this done!”.......

........The suspect, treated at a hospital for a broken tooth and a contusion at the side of his face, was in custody Monday night while police sought warrants to charge him with resisting and obstructing arrest as well as disorderly conduct, Craig said. The department is investigating whether the officer’s conduct justifies disciplinary action, he said.

Although the officer was off duty, working for the Meijer store at 8 Mile and Woodward as a paid security officer, he was in full Detroit police uniform — a common practice for officers who are moonlighting. And so "he is subject to all the rules and regulations of the Detroit Police Department and we are treating this as a Detroit police incident," Craig said.........

all based on suspicion and no crime

Quote:

.........In a news conference Monday afternoon, Craig said, "It appears that the force was proper" even though an investigation found no evidence that the man had shoplifted. .........

Police released surveillance video Tuesday showing an arrest at a Meijer store in Detroit which prompted claims of police brutality after cellphone video recently circulated social media showing an off-duty officer using a baton on a man wrongfully accused of retail fraud.

The new video shows the moments before and after the 23-year-old man was arrested on Sunday.

David Bivins was taken into custody for disorderly conduct and resisting and obstruction. The interaction with police began with accusations of retail fraud...........

Yeah, I watched the 20 minute vid of the police chief's news conference. He truly spoke out of both sides of his mouth. I figured if he was already saying he's got "concerns" and that using a side baton "never looks good" he already knows he's got problems. The new video contradicts his claims about the suspect "resisting" but of course being thrown around like a rag doll is also seen as "resisting". Always was. For some of us, anyway.

A St. Louis Community College professor was grabbed from behind by a police officer, pulled to the ground, handcuffed and arrested at a college system board meeting after trying to object out of turn to rules laid out for the meeting.

The college released video of the incident involving adjunct math professor Steve Taylor, who says he spoke out of turn after the board threatened to kick out anyone who clapped.

An arrest report said Taylor "aggressively forced his way" toward board members during the public comment period at Thursday night's meeting, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Taylor denied charging the board members.

"I was driven into the concrete floor ... my feet were brushed out from underneath me. I was rammed. His full body went on top of me into the cement floor," Taylor told CBS St. Louis affiliate KMOV-TV.

In the video, people can be heard shouting "what are you doing?" and "let him go!" as officer arrested Taylor.

The 53-year-old teaches on the community college system's Wildwood campus and said that after his arrest he received a letter saying he would no longer be allowed there. He said he views receiving the letter as a firing.

"It was shocking and it all happened so fast," he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Later, he added, "I would've been willing to leave but I was approached from behind and pulled violently without indication as to who was doing it or why."........

Drunk driving arrests are down sharply after decades of aggressive enforcement, while drugged driving arrests are climbing.

Georgia now has more than 250 officers with special 'drug recognition expert' training.

But 11Alive News Chief Investigator Brendan Keefe discovered some drivers are getting arrested for driving stoned -- even when their drug tests came back clean.

Cobb County Police Officer T.T. Carroll: "You said you haven't had anything to drink tonight?"Katelyn Ebner: "Not tonight, no."Officer Carroll: "Not tonight, okay. One of the things we do is we ask people to blow through this thing, okay."

Katelyn Ebner crossed the center line, and got pulled over on the way home from work. She works in a bar, and does not drink while at work.

No, she had not been drinking. All tests for alcohol came up empty. But the Cobb County police officer who pulled her over was not done yet.

Officer Carroll: "I'm going to ask you a question, okay? When was the last time you smoked marijuana?"Katelyn Ebner: "Oh, I don't do that. I can give you a drug test right now."Officer Carroll: "You don't smoke marijuana?"Katelyn Ebner: "I do not, no."Officer Carroll: "Okay. Well, you're showing me indicators that you have been smoking marijuana, okay?"

"I didn't realize that you could get arrested for something that you didn't do," Ebner told Keefe. "That never crossed my mind until it happened to me."............

When the Harvey Weinstein story broke, I thought of something my mother told me when I was a little girl. She said: To be a free woman, you have to be a financially independent woman. She wasn’t wrong. I studied economics in college and went to New York to become an investment banker. To be blunt, I wanted the freedom money can buy.

I had a sudden change of heart while working at Goldman Sachs as a summer analyst. I decided that if the world required me to sell the hours of my life in exchange for access to what had long ago been free—food, water, shelter—I wanted to at least be doing something that stirred my soul. This is, granted, a privileged position. But as a young woman that was the conclusion I came to.

I had discovered acting and filmmaking in college, and the more time I spent ...............

Years ago, I was helping a supervisor at a single-car crash. A black man collided head-on into a concrete divider, and died at the scene. I was detouring the ensnarled traffic when my corporal, who had been alongside the victim, shared an update.

“When I got here he was alive, but fading. His eyes were opening and closing real slow and I could feel his pulse slowing down.” He paused, and with the smoothness of a perfectly timed punch line, the corporal said “So, I whispered in his ear, ‘Today is the day you die, nigger.’”

I stood horrified.

Then, I did nothing.

Silence is the culture of many police departments. In my second year as a cop ― a career that would span more than a decade across three states ― I was taught the ramifications of speaking out. After a sergeant stole from an impounded car, another whistleblower and I reported him up the chain of command. Within days, I was fired. It was just before Christmas; young, a child on the way, and now my fledgling career tarnished. I received the message loud and clear: Do not kneel..........

this type of concentrated obsession over minority populations will certainly lead to even more unequal levels of encounters, arrests, imprisonment and conflict than exist currently. rather than cut down on crime it will raise tensions and arm authorities with bias and prejudice based on appearance and familiarity that breeds contempt. a disaster for all involved.

Police announced Project Green Light cameras that feed right to the Detroit Police Department will now have facial recognition software to identify people. But not everybody thinks this is a good idea.

Detroit police already consider Project Green Light to be a success that's cutting down on crime, and now, they believe adding facial recognition technology will help solve violent crime in the city.

The technology costs $1 million, but Assistant Detroit Police Chief James White said it's worth it to add a layer to the investigation process..........

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